Monthly Archives: November 2014

Microsoft has just announced the new MCSE: Enterprise Devices and Apps. This new credential enables IT professionals and technologists to demonstrate their advanced skills in device management in today’s BYOD enterprise.

This MCSE can be earned by having a Windows 8 MCSA (or a Windows Server 2012 MCSA) and passing the new exams: 695 and 696 (now available as beta exams). Remember that for Microsoft beta exams, you will not know your results until after the exams are scored.

Now let’s take a closer look at the new exams for the MCSE: Enterprise Devices and Apps. These are Exam 695: Deploying Windows Devices and Enterprise Apps, and Exam 696: Managing Enterprise Devices and Apps.

Exam 695: Deploying Windows Devices and Enterprise Apps

This exam is intended for IT professionals who deploy, manage, and maintain PCs, devices, and applications across midsized to large enterprise organizations. Technology: Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2. Typically, this audience comes from a desktop support background. A significant portion of this audience uses or intends to use System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager to manage and deploy Windows devices and applications.

Topics:

Implement the Operating System Deployment (OSD) infrastructure (21%)

Implement a Lite Touch deployment (18%)

Implement a Zero Touch deployment (20%)

Create and maintain desktop images (21%)

Prepare and deploy the application environment (20%)

Exam 696: Managing Enterprise Devices and Apps

This exam is intended for IT professionals who manage and maintain PCs, devices, and applications across midsized to large enterprise organizations. A significant portion of this audience uses or intends to use System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager to manage and deploy PCs, devices, and applications. The Enterprise Desktop Administrator also supports either domain joined or non-domain joined Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scenarios, mobile device management, and secure data access on common platforms, such as Windows 8.x, Windows Phone 8.x, iOS, and Android.

Topics:

Deploy and manage virtual applications (14%)

Deploy and manage desktop and mobile applications (15%)

Plan and implement software updates (16%)

Manage compliance and Endpoint Protection settings (15%)

Manage Configuration Manager clients (15%)

Manage inventory using Configuration Manager (12%)

Provision and manage mobile devices (12%)

What do you think about the new MCSE: Enterprise Devices and Apps credential? Will you be pursuing it?

Amazon is one of the coolest internet-focused brands of our times. And no, it’s a lot more than one of the biggest shopping platforms. Amazon Web Services unites a collection of remote computing services that make up a cloud computing platform, offered over the Internet by Amazon.com. The most central and well-known of these services are Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3.

Amazon Web Services also offers a certification program. This is especially useful for professionals looking to build a career in the cloud and cloud-related services, especially in the United States.

Last week, Amazon expanded its cloud certification portfolio with the beta launch of its newest professional-level certification, the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer. Let’s take a close look at Amazon web services certification portfolio in general and this new credential in particular.

AWS Certifications

AWS Certifications recognize IT professionals who possess the skills and technical knowledge necessary for designing, deploying, and operating applications and infrastructure on AWS. Earning certification helps you gain visibility and credibility for your proven experience working with AWS, as well as contributes to your organization’s proficiency with AWS-based applications.

AWS Certifications designate individuals who demonstrate knowledge, skills and proficiency with AWS services. AWS Certification exams validate the technical knowledge and skills necessary for building and maintaining applications and services on the AWS Cloud. Exams are delivered by Kryterion in over 750 locations around the globe.

Earning AWS Certification enables you to:

Demonstrate you have expertise to design, deploy, and operate highly available, cost-effective, and secure applications on the AWS platform

Gain recognition and visibility for your proven skills and proficiency with AWS

According to Amazon official website, the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional exam validates technical expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed application systems on the AWS platform. Exam concepts you should understand for this exam include the ability to:

Implement and manage continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS

CompTIA has recently launched a new certification. If you work in IT, most likely it’s not for you. This credential is rather for your non-IT colleagues and friends who have to call you every time their computer contracts a virus, when their operating system starts acting up and so on – we all know these people. We all know somebody who has zero of this seemingly basic computer knowledge, don’t we?

There’s no shame being one of these people if you do not work in IT industry. But as pretty much any job these days requires at least basic level of computer literacy, CompTIA has developed a formal credential to validate these basic skills.

Meet IT Fundamentals, the newest credential in CompTIA’s certification lineup. This credential replaces Strata IT Fundamental certification which will be phased out in summer 2015.

CompTIA IT Fundamentals certification targets non-IT professionals who cannot escape the need for basic IT skills. It goes without saying that since most industries, like marketing, sales, customer service, management and others tend to rely on software, CRM, and other computer-based tools, these professionals need computer-based skills. For professionals in marketing, communications, and other recession-hit industries where job competition is especially tough, having such credential might be the unique selling point on their resume, something to set them apart from other applicants. CompTIA specifically mentions the following professions:

Sales associates

Sales engineers

Account managers

Business development managers

Product and marketing specialists

Customer support personnel

IT Fundamentals is as basic as it gets for an IT certification. It is a step below the entry level CompTIA A+ credential which was developed for entry level IT professionals, mainly service desk staff. CompTIA IT Fundamentals covers the following aspects:

Identifying and explaining computer components.

Setting up a workstation, including conducting software installations.

CompTIA IT Fundamentals credential does not have any prerequisites, although candidates should allow sufficient time for learning all information and topics outlined in exam blueprint. The exam itself (already available worldwide), FC0-U51, lasts 1 hour and consists of 75 multiple choice questions.

So is this certification right for you? Or, if you are an experienced IT professional, who do you recommend this credential to?

Have you heard that Cisco is revising all CCIE Service Provider exams – written and lab? All exams have just been refreshed from Version 3.0 to Version 4.0. Experienced Cisco know that the company frequently updates its certification exams to keep them current and reflect all latest changes -both in technology and the evolution of job roles.

If you’ve been planning to take the current version of the Written Written Exam v3.0 (350-029) and the Lab Exam v3.0, you can still do it before May 21, 2015. After May 22, 2015, the Written Exam v4.0 (400-201) and the Lab Exam v4.0 will be available for testing.

What exactly is being changed? It’s worth pointing out that there are a lot of changes, and the topic structure has been significantly revamped. It’s best to refer to Cisco documents for a proper side-by side comparison. Please find PDFs below and visit Cisco Learning for more info!

Cisco has recently expanded its portfolio of Service Provider Mobility Specialist certifications with 2 new credentials. These are Service Provider Mobility Specialist certifications – Cisco Service Provider Mobility CDMA to LTE Specialist and Cisco Service Provider Mobility UMTS to LTE Specialist.

Just like other similar Service Provider Mobility Specialist certifications, these credential validate a candidate’s knowledge and skills required to implement components, technologies, and architectures that are found in UMTS, CDMA, and LTE packet core networks. They also enable candidates to migrate from a UMTS or CDMA infrastructure to an LTE-evolved packet system.

According to Cisco, the new Service Provider Mobility CDMA to LTE Specialist certification validates a Service Provider Network engineer’s knowledge and skills required to understand technologies, components, architectures, and products that are found in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) packet core networks, specifically in the migration to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved Packet Systems (EPS), including Evolved Packet Core (EPC) networks and radio access networks (RANs).

As mobile technologies become even more embedded in our daily life than we could ever imagine, there seems to be a mobile app for everything. And that joke ‘there is a mobile app for that’ isn’t even that much of a joke anymore. At the same time, we often hear about various ugly information leaks from somebody’s mobile phone being hacked, and celebrities’ nude photos being the least of damage made. So does it mean that mobile apps are not secure enough?

In short, YES: mobile apps are not secure enough. Although developers invest lots of resources in their products, and companies cannot emphasize enough the importance of mobile app security, there is still a huge gap in this field. As a result, the need for mobile app security specialists is now on the rise. This is a very exciting field where just having a formal credential isn’t really enough: you need to be curios and hungry for learning as the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs in this field seem yet to come. However, formal credentials and professional mobile app security certifications are definitely the place to start if you’re interested in this career.

According to (ISC)2 , CSSLP validates the holders’ capabilities of developing an application security program in their organization; reducing production costs, application vulnerabilities and delivery delay; enhancing the credibility of the organization and its development team; reducing loss of revenue and reputation due to a breach resulting from insecure software.

This demonstrates the new approach: to prepare app developers and development team leads to plug inevitable holes in the app security.

Enhancing the credibility of your organization and its development team

Reducing loss of revenue and reputation due to a breach resulting from insecure software

The Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) is perfect for everyone involved in the SDLC (software development lifecycle) with at least 4 years of cumulative paid full-time work experience in one or more of the eight domains of the CSSLP CBK. CSSLP professional experience includes:

Software developers

Engineers and architects

Product managers

Project managers

Software QA

QA testers

Business analysts

Professionals who manage these stakeholders

CSSLP Exam Outline:

Domain 1: Secure Software Concepts

Module 1: Concepts of Secure Software

Module 2: Principles of Security Design

Module 3: Security Privacy

Module 4: Governance, Risk, and Compliance

Module 5: Methodologies for Software Development

Domain 2: Security Software Requirements

Module 1: Policy Decomposition

Module 2: Classification and Categorization

Module 3: Functional Requirements – Use Cases and Abuse Cases

Module 4: Secure Software Operational Requirements

Domain 3: Secure Software Design

Module 1: Importance of Secure Design

Module 2: Design Considerations

Module 3: The Design Process

Module 4: Securing Commonly Used Architectures

Domain 4: Secure Software Implementation/coding

Module 1: Fundamental Programming Concepts

Module 2: Code Access Security

Module 3: Vulnerability Databases and Lists

Module 4: Defensive Coding Practices and Controls

Module 5: Secure Software Processes

Domain 5: Security Software Testing

Module 1: Artifacts of Testing

Module 2: Testing for Secure Quality Assurance

Module 3: Types of Testing

Module 4: Impact Assessment and Corrective Action

Module 5: Test Data Lifecycle Management

Domain 6: Software Acceptance

Module 1: Software Acceptance Considerations

Module 2: Post-release

Domain 7: Software Deployment, Operation, Maintenance and Disposal

Module 1: Installation and Deployment

Module 2: Operations and Maintenance

Module 3: Disposal of Software

Domain 8: Supply Chain and Software Acquisition

Module 1: Supplier Risk Assessment

Module 2: Supplier Sourcing

Module 3: Software Development and Test

Module 4: Software Delivery, Operations and Maintenance

Module 5: Supplier Transitioning

Find out more about (ISC)2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional credential (CSSLP) here.

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